Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing comes as a referendum on the new chairmanship of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who received his nomination from the White House Tuesday for another five-year term at the agency following his term’s July 1, 2016, expiration. Pai met with President Donald Trump Monday (see 1703060055), and all eyes are on the administration for any information about forthcoming FCC nominations for the two open commissioner spots, one typically for a Republican and one for a Democrat.
President Donald Trump's anticipated cybersecurity executive order is "moving along and maybe within a week or so we could see something," said former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano during a Center for Strategic and International Studies event Monday. Palmisano, vice chairman of the federal Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, said he would attend a White House meeting later Monday to provide feedback on the revised order. Palmisano said he has not received any official confirmation on the EO's timeline. The White House didn’t comment. The White House has continued to revise the anticipated order in the weeks since officials first delayed Trump's planned late January signing of it. Then, the order would have directed the Office of Management and Budget to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks and required agencies to manage their risk using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701310066). Recent drafts of the EO have included language that would direct the Department of Commerce to explore ways to encourage “core communications infrastructure” companies “to improve the resilience of such infrastructure and to encourage collaboration with the goal of dramatically reducing threats perpetrated by” botnets (see 1702280065). Likely requirements for agencies’ cybersecurity accountability will be “a very important piece of this” executive order, said former National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who chairs CENC, during the CSIS event. “That is a contract, if you will, between the president and the people he hires to run the agencies and departments.”
Cincinnati Bell elevates President-Chief Operating Officer Leigh Fox to president-CEO, effective May 31, when Ted Torbeck retires, remaining on the board ... Entravision Chief Operating Officer Jeffery Liberman adds title of president ... Disney Media Distribution President Ben Pyne departs in the fall, and separately, Disney hires Naomi Bulochnikov-Paul, ex-Crackle, as vice president-communications, Freeform ... Latham & Watkins hires Jack Sheridan, ex-Wilson Sonsini, as corporate partner, Emerging Companies Practice, where he advises tech companies ... Google moves Lee Dunn to head-White House outreach.
The FCC approved 2-1 a stay of data security parts of ISP privacy rules, which otherwise would have taken effect Thursday. Chairman Ajit Pai asked the commissioners to vote by the end of Thursday on the stay, saying otherwise staff would act (see 1702240055). Democrat Mignon Clyburn already indicated she opposed the stay. She issued a sharply worded dissent.
Communications sector-specific language in draft versions of President Donald Trump's upcoming cybersecurity executive order (EO) drew mixed reviews from industry lawyers and lobbyists. The White House has continued to revise the anticipated executive order in the weeks since officials first delayed Trump's planned late January signing of the order, several lobbyists said. Then, the order would have directed the Office of Management and Budget to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks and required agencies to manage their risk using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701310066).
With industry-backed wireless siting bills gaining steam in state legislatures, some local-government groups see momentum and seek to limit damage through negotiation. In an interview Tuesday, ex-NATOA President Ken Fellman urged communities to follow the example of Colorado local-government groups and hash out small-cells bills with industry rather than oppose state legislation outright. Meanwhile, industry applauded a Texas Public Utility Commission proposed decision finding that wireless infrastructure provider ExteNet need not pay access line fees to Houston.
The Senate Communications Subcommittee scheduled a spectrum hearing for Thursday, as expected earlier in February (see 1702100051). It said Friday the hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in Dirksen G50 with the following witnesses: CTIA Vice President Scott Bergmann; Recon Analytics analyst Roger Entner; Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner; Raycom Media President Pat LaPlatney; and Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup. The hearing will "explore the future of spectrum policy and how wireless technology benefits consumers and the economy," the committee said. "It will also examine evolving market demand for licensed and unlicensed spectrum and the Federal Communications Commission’s recent spectrum auctions.”
A Vermont 911 case is raising legal and public policy questions about whether states can mandate backup-power requirements for wireless or interconnected VoIP carriers. Last week at the Public Service Board, some commented that federal statute bars states from making battery-backup mandates to either industry, and -- for wireline providers including VoIP -- that FCC existing backup power requirements make separate state rules unnecessary. A recent former California commissioner said in an interview it’s critical from a public policy standpoint for states and local governments to make their own decisions on communications network resiliency, including battery backup. A NARUC attorney disputed industry claims of federal pre-emption.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai indicated he will act to guarantee parts of ISP privacy rules don’t take effect Thursday, over the potential protest of the agency's sole Democratic member and amid concerns from Democrats overseeing the agency. Pai and fellow Republican Mike O’Rielly were critics when the rules were approved under former Chairman Tom Wheeler in October, just before the presidential election (see 1610270036), and after the election, industry officials predicted Pai would scuttle the privacy order (see 1611090034).
The FCC approved an order setting a broad range of bid weights for a planned Connect America Fund Phase II reverse auction of almost $2 billion in subsidy support for fixed broadband/voice services over 10 years. The CAF II bid weights are designed to value "high speeds, higher usage allowances and low latency," balanced with "cost efficiencies" to deploy broadband widely, said a release Thursday. Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn voted for the order; Commissioner Mike O'Rielly partially dissented.